Tides of Imperium
by cwkc
Summary: It is the brink of new century in the galaxy, and the situation is dire for the Federation. However a chance encounter on an exploration mission threatens to destroy everything built in the galaxy and what it stands for.
1. Chapter 1

_As an SF fan, it's always intriguing to see how different ideas or technologies can change the way things are done. In this case, what were to happen if the Imperium of Man from the Warhammer 40K universe found out about the United Federation of Planets from the Star Trek Universe. What would they think about an alliance where humanity was just one part and sought cooperation with everyone else?_

_This is my first fanfic, and as far as quantum mechanics goes, this is the universe that I have to work with. Viewpoints, ideas and reviews are welcome. I have based this off of much of Warhammer 40K material that I have, and a variation of Star Trek online. If you want to calculate what dates I'm using, go to .org. There is a stardate converter in the calculator section._

_Disclaimer: I don't own any Star Trek franchise or Warhammer 40K_

* * *

Space, the final frontier. It was black, and a seemingly endless void that held wonders that would excite the soul, or freeze it with terror. It was this seemingly boundless domain that the sentient species of the Milky Way crossed interstellar distances to seek out new life and new civilizations. If chance decided to look at them, they would even discover new realities. It was with these thoughts in mind that a starship moved between the stars at speeds faster than light.

The Ship was undeniably graceful, as if the designers had been raised with the term Form Follows Function in their mother's milk. She was 450 meters from bow to stern. Her elliptical saucer at the front melded onto a flattened cigar shaped body, with low pointing struts with glowing red tipped and blue sided nacelles at the end housing the warp coils that made faster than light travel possible. Another pair struts at the top and rear of the elongated saucer section held up large box structure. Proudly emblazoned on the front top of the saucer section, black against a gleaming light grey hull, was the name of the ship, USS Ganymede, NCC-80109.

On the top of the saucer section in the middle was the bridge of the ship. This was the nervous system that helped give the ship her purpose, for it was here that explorers of the galaxy told the ship where to go and what to see. It was here that many got their first look at the wonders they were going to encounter. It was also here that those who commanded waited for anything to happen. The life of an explorer was not all excitement, for if one did not have the boring moments, and many of them, one could not know excitement, thus everyone who occupied this area always learned patience and to simply wait.

It was here on this particular day, that would become one of the most fated in the history of the galaxy that the ship's Captain, the crews lord after whatever gods they worshiped, was composing his personal log for the morning. To many, it was of minor note, that although the Captain looked human, he was not human at all. The closes anybody would say was humanoid. He had eyes, ears, and hair that made him look human, but he also had ridges on his nose and an elaborate chained earring. This marked him as a Bajoran, from Bajor, a recently admitted member to the inter species alliance that was called the United Federation of Planets. It was a grand alliance of many different species that banded to together for mutual understanding, cooperation, exploration and defense. There were over 150 member worlds and many more colonies. It held a peaceful ideal that many other alliances could not seem to match in its goal of improving oneself and those around.

The Bajoran sitting in the Captain's chair leaned back and closed his eyes momentarily before going over his log entry.

_Ship's Log, Stardate 76277.42_. _We have completed our two week survey of the fifth planet in the Mu Pi 9857 system. Despite being 22 light years from the nearest federation colony and 15 from the nearest star base, it could make a good jumping off point for further colonization towards the galactic core. The system's asteroid belt is rich in raw materiels, particularly deuterium and dilithium. This information in included in the scientific analysis attached to the general report on the exploration mission. Overall, the crew is positive at the mission coming to an end after seven years away from the Federation, and we are looking forward to returning to our homes for a time. It has been along six years, but it has most certainly been interesting. We will be heading to Starbase 120 where a replacement crew will take over the Ganymede and return her to the Utopia Planitia Yards for refit and overhaul before we head out again. This will be a good Captaincy test for Commander Yanikov as its still a good few more months to make it into the core worlds by normal warp drive. The change of command ceremony is scheduled to commence in two days after we reach Starbase 120 at 1000 hours._

_The crew has performed admirably over the past seven years, and it has been an honor to serve with them. Many are looking forward to the mandatory leave time. Most of us will be heading home via the transwarp gate network, so we can expect to be back at Starfleet Command in a day at most. At this time I recommend the following actions for the crew._

_The executive Officer, Commander Ryan Burton, should be considered for his Captaincy test. He has kept the ship running efficiently and has shown sound judgment when dealing with independent command opportunities. _

_The Tactical Officer, Lieutenant Anthi, should be promoted to Lieutenant Commander and take part in the advanced tactics course. She has demonstrated a natural ability at the tactical station._

_The Helm Officer, Lieutenant J.G Bol, should be promoted to Lieutenant and also be sent to the advanced tactical course. He has displayed a natural aptitude for piloting ships as has been demonstrated in the surveys of the asteroid belts of Pi Canis 8875 and Mu Toa 9987. _

_Further commendations for the remaining crew can be found in the official mission report._

Captain of the USS Ganymede, Omwus Antos, stared at the report again with brown eyes and puffed out his cheeks. The last bit was a cop out, but there had been a lot done in six years of the mission. Reports had been sent back to Starfleet Command on a regular basis, so all the information of the crew was up to date. Watching the passing star streaks on the main viewer of the bridge, he finally decided that everything was fine would be a good way to end it. This train of thought was interrupted when a console began beeping by the science station. An enlisted science crewman's fingers startred to move furiously over the key's in front of her, trying to figure out what had caused the alert. Captain Omwus sat and waited patiently for the report to finish.

His curiosity became perked when the crewmen called for Lt. Commander T'Lenn to the bridge. The chief science officer of the ship was not usually called from off duty for a sensor contact. The pointy eared Vulcan Science officer came onto the bridge in a cool and un-hurried pace. She started speaking with the crewman who had found the contact then began tapping key sequences at the science station bringing up the analysis that had been done. The furious silent activity continued to drag on, with only the beeps of the computer telling that something was happening. Seeing no reason to wait anymore, Captain Omwus decided to prod and see what the science crew had come up with.

Standing up, he made his way over to the science station, clasping his hands behind his back to appear as non chalant as possible. "What seems to be the problem?" He inquired in a mild tenor.

If the science crew was surprised, they didn't let it show. Lt. Commander T'Lenn spoke in calm logical soprano, "The sensors picked up an anomaly 2.9 light years from our current position. It is currently radiating large amounts of neutrino, and chroniton particles. If the data is correct, we are possible looking at a wormhole."

At hearing this, Captain Omwus eyebrows went up rapidly. Wormholes were subspace tunnels connecting two points in space. They were also notoriously unstable. The only stable one was in his home system of Bajor. Recalling the last status report of the ship, he decided that one more exploration encounter wouldn't be a bad idea, especially one that was this important.

"Continue monitoring the anomaly, we'll make a stop by there and get a better look at it. Relay the coordinates to the helm." The Science office nodded before turning back to her console. Captain Omwus turned to the front of the bridge. "Helm, change course for the coordinates from Science." The ensign manning the helm station confirmed and made the adjustments.

Sitting back down in the Captain's chair, he pressed a button that activated the intercom for the ship. "Attention all hands, this is the Captain. We have detected what could possibly be a stable wormhole. I'm sorry to have to put off your expected return home, but this could be a major find, so we'll be stopping there for a few days. That is all."

This announcement would normally have been met with moaning and groaning, but the crew was professional. They accepted the decision and continued to carry on with whatever tasks they were attending to. This was what they had signed on for and the discovery of something new would both improve their chances of promotion while helping to solve another mystery of the universe. The science crew looked forward to this for obvious reasons. The engineering crew looked forward to this since the Captain would continue to test the limits of the ship in new ways that would increase their understanding of starship design. The only ones who had the least to look forward to were the tactical and security departments.

Missions of exploration did not usually involve having to destroy something, and it was not the preferred method for Starfleet or the Federation to operate. However, the last 25 years had been hard on the Federation. War had come with the warrior like Klingons, the merciless Dominion, and the relentless part machine, part biological Borg. Despite all of this, the Federation and Starfleet had adapted with new weapons, tactics and ships. Many had mistaken the Federations ideals of cooperation and peace as passive in nature, but at the cost of a tremendous number of lives, the Federation still existed. The heavy hitting warships of Starfleet were kept within the borders of the Federations pursuing pirates and raiders, standing ready to engage any enemy to the Federation. There was rarely a need for them to head beyond the borders into the unknown unlike the exploration ships.

This left the tactical and security crews of the exploration ships in a bit of a pickle since their position was necessary, but would most likely not be used. However, they trained intensely and continuously against the day they were needed. This was the state that the security detachment found itself in when the announcement was made by the Captain. Lieutenant Avis Cass, a squat sandy haired, tanned human with hard green eyes was conducting an exercise on the ships holodeck with a third of the security crew in a counter boarding action. It had not been going well since the computer had thrown all the security teams for a loop by forcing them to go hand to hand against Dominion's genetically engineered soldiers, the Jem'Hadar. The only group that had seemed unfazed by this brutal form of combat was the thirteen person marine detachment led by the blue skinned, antennaed Andorian Gunnery Sergeant Shan. From the exercises results the Marines had proven their worth suffering proportionately fewer casualties while inflicting the most damage and keeping the enemy at bay.

Lieuteneant Cass shook his head at the Marines since he understood why they were needed, but did not like the fact they were necessary. In the wars fought by the Federation, tactics had a major backslide compared to the militaries of Earth in the 20th and 21st centuries, even the defunct MACOs from the time of Jonathan Archer. In many cases, the tactics federation soldiers used had gone back to high technology versions of the skirmish lines used by Duke Wellington's Skirmishers and Riflemen. Ground battles involving the federation and their allies were frequently close and brutal. Many a time the federation would have been overwhelmed had it not been for the sheer stubborn defiance and desperation of the federation troops. There was simply no perceived need for the mass destruction an army like those in the 21st century could wreak. After the Dominion war ended, it was recognized that Starfleet had to prepare for the worst in space or on planets, thus the Marine Corp was formed. Although at odds with ideals of the Federation, there were detachments of Marines on ships and all over the galaxy ready to wreak havoc should the need arise. They were not as adept at keeping the peace like security could do, but they ready to make the peace if necessary.

After he finished listening to the Captain's announcement, Lieuteneant Cass had decided the simulation was over. A slight frown creased his face as he began the post simulation chores. "Computer." He began and the ships computer faithfully acknowledged it was ready with a two tone musical beep. "End simulation and compile standard review results." The holodeck promptly dissolved the simulation and dead bodies while those crewmen who had been knocked down proceeded to pick themselves off the ground from the neural stun that had been administered from the holograms after they had been 'killed.'

He turned to Marine commander. "Gunnery Sergeant Shan."

The unreadable Andorian looked in his direction. "Sir?"

"We'll reconvene at 0900 hours in the conference room to over the after action review."

"Yes Sir." was the only response that was needed.

With that business concluded, he turned back to the security teams with a bit of a flare and an edge in his voice. "We will reconvene at 1000 hours and conduct the review. Dismissed."

After seven years, the crew knew they had just been chastised by that tone, but accepted it professionally. Every filed out to head back to their quarters for a shower before the scathing review was to come.

_At least someone has something to look forward to soon._ Lieutenant Cass thought to himself as he followed his crew mates out. The Ganymede flew on to a new discovery that would shake the Federation and their and neighbors.


	2. Chapter 2

_Graft and Disclaimers: I don't own Star Trek or Warhammer_

_I had to make an edit so this is kind of a v2 of the same chapter. Sorry about that._

* * *

The flight to the anomaly was uneventful since it was not marred with inconsistencies and random events. Some ships seemed to be constantly afflicted by something in the, most notably those named Enterprise. Depending on how one viewed life, this either made life incredibly exciting, or down right terrifying. However, it did make the crew of the Enterprise the living legends of Starfleet since they could always deal with the unknown and come up with a solution. It was a level of proficiency and tenacity that all crews aspired to, as was fitting of the position of Flagship of the fleet.

The Ganymede would not be afflicted by such acts of randomness for this flight however. The galaxy had decided that the discovery of the anomaly had been enough for this crew of intrepid explorers and thus left them for a straight line three hour cruise. Too many, this meant that they continued on as if everything was normal and used the time to complete whatever tasks they had been assigned. For the engineering crew, this meant performing whatever maintenance was needed in case the ship suddenly found itself being stressed in ways that were highly unpleasant as they were usually quite destructive. This did not make Lt. Commander Silin's disposition any happier. As the Chief Engineer of the Ganymede, it was her job to make sure the ship was running and would do whatever the Captain wanted the ship to do.

As soon as the announcement had been made, Lt. Commander Silin began running a system diagnostic of the ship's systems. Even though the ship had been on a long range mission, far away from any support bases, the lessons learned from also legendary voyage of USS Voyager also brought new lessons in how to maintain ships in far away from home. That ship's chief engineer, now Captain B'Leanna Paris nee Torres had practically written the manual on self sustainment and repairs. For the Ganymede, this meant they had a fully functional and practically good as new deflector array on the ship.

Lt. Commander Silin snorted as a wry smile formed on her face. It had been a very interesting. Most areas that ships docked at were well out of the way of anything that could harm the ship, whether it was inside the massive space docks that orbited the major industrial worlds or the scaffolding that floated in the emptiness of space around others. Many of the raw materials they had needed for that job had been found in the rings of one of the planets they had been examining. Since the safety of the ship had to take priority, it was up to the crew to take the ship's compliment of shuttles and do some hard zero gravity ring mining. To say the crew was exhausted would have been an understatement, but the executive office had known this was bound to happen so, the ship had spent the next three days just sitting in space while the crew did their best to decompress. However, work schedules had a nasty habit of getting in people's way, so exercising the discretion that only a Captain could, he had ordered the ship to hide in a nearby nebula, then a day long party to celebrate a crewman's birthday occurred. It was definitely not quite with regulation, but that one day of bonding served to help raise the spirits and feeling of homesickness many were starting to feel.

Silin frowned for a moment in contemplation while her antennae moved around a bit. She didn't remember seeing the Captain that much for the celebrations, then frowned harder as she stared at the swirling mass of gas that was being directed in tube like structure of the matter injectors to the warp core. The swirling mass of aqua, green and yellow swirling and mixing in a beautiful and carefully calculated flow to ensure the reaction chamber would not explode. It was a lot like being the Captain of a ship. He was not responsible for the well being of the crew and did not have to look after them. That was the XO's job. If necessary, he had to be able to order them into situations that were dangerous, there was no space for personal feelings. He could not fraternize that much with the crew. He had to be there, but just far enough apart from the rest so as to not jeopardize the ship by making an emotional decision.

Silin made a quiet huff before she pulled herself out of her ruminations. Captaincy, the one post many aspired to, but did not quite realize what it could cost, maybe she would need to find a mate or something before she finally reached that stage. She hoped that whoever she found would understand what she was doing and why she did it. A small smile flitted across her lips as she pondered this new problem, but it was cut short as the console in front of her began to beep repeatedly. She blinked for a minute then began typing on her LCARS console sorting and examining the information the computer had obligingly provided.

Data flashed by as Anthi's experienced engineering mind began comparing the data to what she knew the ship could do. The ship looked to be in the best condition it had been since coming out of the builders yards, if possible, it was a little better then when the builders had handed her over to the crew. It was something of a tradition within Starfleet to always have the ship in better condition than what the builders expected. This usually meant that the whoever got access to the builders specifications of the ship would inevitably find that federation ships were always harboring a little surprise since that information was no longer accurate. Her eyes caught the information regarding the strength of the Structural Integrity Field generators and her brow knitted together in response to her curiosity. According to the numbers presented, they were running according to specifications, but those were shipyard specifications. A few more key taps brought up the maintenance record of the SIF generators and she soon found what she had been looking for. Generator Three had been knocked out of alignment during a steady of a gravitational eddy. The effects were not severe on the ship, but had been a little rough on the crew. That generator was usually on backup, but was currently running so that maintenance could be carried out on Generator One. Double checking to see who was doing the maintenance, she tapped a button on her console and her the sound indicating and open comm link.

"Engineering to Ensign Sylus." Silin opened while waiting for the response. She did not have long to wait.

"Ensign Sylus reporting, go ahead Engineering." Came back over the intercomm.

"When you're done with Generator One, I need you to take a look at Generator Three. It looks like it's running about 10% under spec." Lt Commander Silin let training take over as she relayed her orders in a matter of fact fashion.

The crew was like a family, so a few liberties were allowed when dealing with each other. "You mean that we can do better than the builders and it should stay that way." The mirth was evident in the tone.

A grin reformed on her lips as she responded. "Quite, but remember not to tell the builders that, they get into fits every time we do something to the ship."

A chuckle came back. "Yes Ma'am. We'll be done here in 30 minutes, then we'll head to Generator Three. Sylus Out."

Silin smiled at how well the crew had come together in all their time in the unknown together. They were a happy well run ship.

The humor of the crew was evident to all, and showed on the face of Commander Burton as he walked into the Captain's ready room. He had a square jaw, tan skin and thin blonde mustache would have made him a shoe in for the role of captain on any holo-drama. However, he was still only the executive officer in real life but he didn't mind much since he had a generally positive disposition and took most things in stride, and if possible, an insy tiny bit of sadistic satisfaction in the crews suffering. Thus he had a slight grin on his face as he came to a stop in front of the Captain's desk, placing the data pad he had been carrying onto the desk.

Captain Omwus was perusing another set of reports on his desktop monitor when he looked up at executive officer. This was followed with a slight frown and a furrowing of his eyebrow before he decided to deliver his great leap of deduction. "It seems you found someone's discomfort at my current orders to be rather amusing."

Commander Burton's eyebrows moved higher on his forehead before responding in a think accent from Earth's Caribbean. "Me Sir? No Sir. Nothing at all to find that amusing about us investigating something new. Interesting it will be Sir, but not amusing."

Captain Omwus tilted his head to one side supporting it on his index finger and thumb. He then frowned a little harder and gave his XO a fulminating look. "Is that so?"

Seeing this, Burton quickly raised his hands in mock surrender. "Peace Captain, Peace. I beg of you." His grin had now grown into a smile. It was obviously a game that they had played before.

Seeing he had won his little theatrical battle of will, Captain Omwus snorted and grinned himself before taking the PADD off the desk. "So who did the complaining this time?"

Commander Burton's capitulation had not been as apparent as it had seemed as he decided to launch himself into another round evasion. "Well, I wouldn't really call it complaining, maybe griping a little bit." Hit tone was somewhat playful.

The Captain was having none of it though. "So it wasn't really anything at all." It was most certainly a statement.

Commander Burton seemed to deflate at this just a bit as his shoulders slumped slightly. It was almost imperceptible, but when you were with someone for so long, it was easy to read the body language. "No Sir, just some of the crew wishing to be home a little sooner for loved ones and home cooking." There just the barest hint of resignation in his tone.

Captain Omwus grinned at that while he continued to reading the PADD. The brief silence was broken when he saw how long the report was. "Anything pressing I should know about?" Although the information about the ship was on the PADD, he decided the XO would know better what he really needed to know about.

Commander Burton gave himself a minute to dig through the contents of the PADD in his head before responding in a somewhat cheery, but business like manner. "We should arrive at the anomaly in about 45 minutes. Security would like to schedule another exercise since the last one didn't go so well, and engineering reports that the SIF generators are now operating at what they consider to be optimal efficiency."

Captain Omwus cocked an eyebrow at this. "So I should expect complaints from the designers back home when we're done here?"

Commander Burton smiled. "No Sir, they should be handing out commendations to the engineering staff."

Captain Omwus chuckled and decided he could finish the rest of the report over lunch. "Is that all Commander?" Commander Burton responded with a nod. "Very well. Good work" With that, Commander Burton turned left the ready room for the bridge.

Sighing at all the paperwork he still had to, Captain Omwus pushed himself out of his chair and made his way over to a protruding console with an empty space in the middle. Stopping in front of it after a few paces, he decided, on his lunch. A bright shimmering light occupied the empty space as the bottom lit up. A few seconds later, a plate with a square burrito shaped hasperat and a large mug with clear steaming amber colored liquid appeared. Returning to his desk, he sat down and took the PADD in one hand, with the hasperat in the other and began eating. This quickly resulted in Omwus sucking in some air as the spiciness of the hasperat hit him full force. Despite the pain, it was a good feeling, a reminder that home was not so far away and as soon as this last survey was done, they could all go home.

* * *

_Author's notes: Okay, I'm sorry it's taking so long for updates, but my imagination is going mile a minute at later parts of the story than here. I promise to get past the introductions as soon as I can._

_Thanks go out to everyone who did read and review, especially Dusel for pointing at an excellent work that has given me new insights into how I want this story to play out._


	3. Chapter 3

_Graft and Disclaimers: I don't own Star Trek or Warhammer_

* * *

45 minutes later and the wreckage of a good lunch, Captain Omwus heard the distinctive chime of a comm signal at his desk. Putting down the PADD he was reading, he hit a button. "Report." he asked the person on the other end as the response chime signalled a connection.

Lt. Commander T'Lenn's, the Science Officer, cool, calm soprano came back quickly, "Sir, we've reached the anomaly and are currently holding steady at 4 million kilometers out. We are currently experiencing gravitational stress tides, but we should be fine. We have a visual of the anomaly."

Captain Omwus eye brows went up rapidly in surprise. The size of the anomaly had to be immense if they were still so far out and could see it. Deciding this was definitely worth seeing himself and needing to make communications easier, he decided it was better to be on the bridge. He didn't even bother to reply to the communication and exited onto the bridge from his ready room. The automatic doors made their distinctive hydraulic hiss as they rapidly opened and closed.

Nobody looked up to see him come in as they were all either staring at the main view screen or busy working at their consoles taking readings or managing the ship. Looking at the viewscreen, Captain Omwus took in the majestic beauty of the swirling whirl pool of energy. It was like a mini galaxy with white arms, magneta and blue coulds of energy coalescing and covering the blackness of space in between completing the mosaic of swirling galactic beauty. Arcs of white lightning shooting out from the centre added a terrible element to that beauty, but reminded people of the majesty the universe was able to create.

He continued to stare at the sight for several minutes taking it all in before his science officer turned around to bring him up to date. Blinking a bit as if to clear his head, Omwus turned to where Lt. Commander T'Lenn was stationed. "Is it a wormhole?" Straight to the point as usual for him.

Lt. Commander T'Lenn did not think about the curtness of the question, but thought it was a better way of handling the issues they had to deal with. Many of the other crew members had a tendency to muddle around the topic they were discussing, or at least not ask what they wanted exactly. As far as a Vulcan was able to get irritated, this habit of the crew irritated her immensely. She found the Captain's attitude…a relief.

Her own explanation carried a slight air of uncertainty, but it was hard to tell. "I believe it is. There are many similarities in the quantum make up of this anomaly and the Barzan worm hole," Omwus visibly grimaced at this since that wormhole was not stable, but the entry and exit points had a tendency to jump all over the galaxy. "and the Bajoran wormhole as well. Since there appears to be a large output of Tachyons and Chronitons, I believe that this wormhole will have to be considered different from the others."

The Bajoran Captain's mind began to move rapidly as he digested the information. Although his current career path was that of command, he had been brought up in the Science track and had much of the same knowledge. This meant he knew the basics, but his specialty was different from astrophysics. Still, that scientific summary meant three things. One, there was a good chance the wormhole was stable. Two, this wormhole traversed time, possible a long period due to the large amounts of Chronitons being expelled. Three, they had a major unknown in what role the Tachyons played. A mystery indeed and truly worthy of their best efforts. Quickly reinforcing his view that this was definitely something worth looking at, he waited for his Science Officer to finish her report. A slight thrill of excitement coursed through his veins as he turned back to stare at the swirling whirl pool of energy. The final piece of the report, brought his full attention back to the situation. "Sir, I request we launch a Class VI probe at the anomaly to gather more readings. The probe may also be able to transit the wormhole and give us telemetry from the exit point."

Captain Omwus turned around, mild surprise and query was evident on his face. Several others showed the same reaction as a mix of the two. This was a rather bold plan of action since they were really heading into the unknowns, for all they knew, this was an energetic reaction that lead to a black hole, or the exit would end at a Borg dominated time. However it was very intriguing and there was only one way to find out. He decided to get back to business since it was feasible. "Launch the probe when you're ready."

"The probe is being loaded into the forward launcher." Lt. Commander T'Lenn said as looked back at her console and began typing commands. "Probe systems status checks green." She continued. "Launching, estimate 1 minute to the anomaly." To most of the bridge crew, it was one of the slowest minutes they had gone through as tension and anticipation hung heavy in the air. The seconds continued to tick by and the anticipation continued to crescendo till almost he very end when the data feed wavered then terminated altogether.

T'Lenn had been monitoring the telemetry from the probe and was surprised at the probe's destruction. This took the form of her quirking and eyebrow, then following in a soft voice, "Fascinating."

Commander Burton had been waiting near the science station and his own curiosity was peaked when he heard her voice. He leaned over and started to read what the information on station screen, but he was already slightly lost as information began to flow and be manipulated by the Science Officer. The Science Officer obviously had the head start on what had happened but had not brought everyone up to date.

"While I agree that anything that happens is interesting, what caused us to lose the data feed?" Commander Burton asked in his friendly island tenor.

The Science officer tapped a few more buttons before responding neutrally. "It would appear that there were opposing gravity tides approximately two to three light seconds out from the event horizon of the anomaly. The probe did not have the equipment to deal with them and was ripped apart by the stress. Most fascinating, I have never seen anything like this before."

Commander Burton turned around to face the Captain who had turned around to listen to the report. There were a few options that could be taken at this point, and Commander Burton folded his arms and pursed his lips as he began to consider them. He knew in the end that the decision would not be his, but having served together for a while now, Commander Burton and Captain Omwus had been able to establish a sort of silent bond regarding command decisions. Thus, the two of them locked eyes and both seemed to start a form of telepathic communications as they considered the options.

The first was to just sit there and continue to take readings, then go home. That in itself was not a bad choice despite the short duration since they were due back regardless and another ship with the proper personnel and equipment could take care of this situation. The second was to prepare another probe, but this was very time consuming and the probe may not survive anyway. The third option was somewhat ridiculous and got both the Captain and XO furrowing their brows at the same time. Most of the crew noticed this and wondered what they had both decided to do.

Captain Omwus' face was still impassive except for a slight upward turn at the corners of his mouth. Commander Burton was much easier to read as eyebrows went up and a grin broke out on his face. He had just agreed to what the Captain wanted, absolutely willing to carry it out.

Since this option was only a little ridiculous, not undoable, Captain Omwus decided he had better get the plan moving. Turning his attention to the Science Officer, he began speaking. "I plan on taking the ship into the anomaly, what preparations are needed to be ready for that?"

Commander T'Lenn raised an eyebrow in surprise. Most of the bridge staff who were not as controlled as the Vulcan either blinked or openly gaped, a few did both. This was going to be interesting to say the least as either the ship would go through the anomaly or be ripped apart, or more likely, somewhere in between. In any case, the experience would be…..interesting. "It is most certainly possible. The ship has many more capabilities and power than the probe. I will need some time with Engineering to work out a solution."

Captain Omwus nodded his assent, allowing Commander T'Lenn to head for a turbolift to take her to the heart of the ship. The trip did not take long as the turbolift capsule moved around the ship at high speed on electromagnetic rails. The trip ended after about 15 seconds, and it was enough time for the Chief Science Officer to identify the problem and to know what to ask the Chief Engineer. The Vulcan strode purposefully out of the turbolift and through the double automatic doors that led to main engineering. The place was a hive of activity, most of the engineering staff was now on duty, most were watching readings on consoles with fingers flying over keys. Others had tools out and were working on open panels. Amidst the organized chaos T'Lenn found the familiar blue skinned, ivory haired antennae form of the Lt. Commander Silin, Chief Engineer. She was comparing notes on a PADD with those on her console and was so engrossed in her work that she did not notice the Chief Science Officer walk up to her and begin laying out her plan. "Excuse me Comannder…"

This rather abrupt introduction had the unintended effect of causing Lt. Commander Silin to jump and spin around. This would have been very amusing to anyone who saw it, and downright hilarious to the XO, but all the humour was lost on the Science officer, and was the least bit humorous to the Chief Engineer. Silin's face went from surprised to angry instantly as she pointed her finger at the Vulcan.

"Stop doing that." It came out as a low growl.

T'Lenn quirked an eyebrow. "To what are you referring?"

"You sneaking up on people." Silin then held up a finger forstalling any argument from the perplexed Vulcan. "And don't say that it was not your intention. You did it." She was about to add that artificially inducing heart attacks was not a good thing, but decided that it was enough. Letting out a sigh, she put a grin on her face.

"You're forgiven, so what do you need?"

Lt. Commander TLenn found this rapid change in demeanor too confusing to follow, and wished once again that more of the crew would take after the Captain's example, but that was another thing for another time. "We need to get past the gravitational sheer near the anomaly; I have included the details of what I need on the PADD."

Handing the data slate over, Lt. Commander Silin looked over the details and pursed her lips in a silent whistle. She turned her brows eyes quizzically into her Science colleague's eyes, her internal gears already spinning. "You want to turn the navigational deflector into a gravitational impeller?" She asked.

"When will it be possible to complete?" T'Lenn asked in response.

It may have sounded more like an order than a request, but since it was what the Captain wanted, this request carried the same weight. Lt. Commander Silin puckered her lips turned back to most of her attention console as her hands began to fly over the keys bringing in information and correlating it to the data from the probe. It was not the greatest challenge, but the Chief Engineer dove into it anyway. There was only so much that the current technology of a ship could be pushed to the limits, then it got a little boring after that. This new test was going to be much more exciting for the danger if nothing else. The two senior officers exchanged some more information to make the simulation more accurate and wheedle more details about the effects of the anomaly. After the two were satisfied, the computer obligingly started to crunch the numbers giving an estimate of the time it would take to complete the simulation.

Seeing it was going to be a few minutes, Lt. Commander Silin turned to face her counter part who was calmly looking at the screen with her hands behind her back. "So, what were you planning on doing when we got back home?" She casually asked.

"I was planning on resigning from Starfleet. I have been offered a position at the Vulcan Science Academy." T'Lenn's tone was that of one who had just ordered tea.

Silin's response was nowhere near as calm as eyes turned into saucers, and she stood up coming to eye level with T'Lenn's. Exceitement was written all over her face. Several of the engineering staff turned their heads at the sudden movment, and a few also started to listen in on the conversation. "Wait, what? The Vulcan Science Academy? That is spectacular! Congratulations! When did you find out?" Silin almost gushed.

Lt. Commander T'Lenn quirkled an eyebrow since watching an Andorian gush was something she had not seen before. Her calm logical mind thought this was behaviour was somewhat unsettling, but nonetheless was pleased by the positive response, even if she didn't show it. "Thank you, I received it in our last communication yesterday." Deciding it was better to answer several questions, she continued before they could come up. "The academy was most interested in my findings regarding high energy plasmatic reactions."

Anthi's quick mind butted in, "You mean the super heated gas cloud we found in the middle of nowhere of Xeros Rho 8835?"

T'Lenn slightly bowed her head in agreement. "That is correct. I submitted several theories and the Academy took interest…." She continued explaining with occasional interruptions from Anthi. The two soon lost track of time but were brought back the current situation when the computer signaled the simulation was complete.

Lt. Commander Silin was about to sit down and examine the results when she noticed several people still looking at her and T'Lenn. She felt a little embarrassed at having been seen enjoying some free time while on duty, but quickly pushed it out of her mind before throwing several looks around engineering. Everyone quickly got the message and turned back to work. The torrent of information was voluminous, but a quick perusal of the most pertinent data points caused the engineer to sigh.

"Will the anomaly be a problem?" T'Lenn asked after noticing the chief Engineer's change in mood.

With a bit of air of resignation and consternation, Anthi dove into the explanation. "The problem isn't difficult, but it will be tedious to deal with. The gravitational impeller will, but I'm going to use the shields in conjunction with the deflector. This will shift more of the burden to the shield systems instead of the hull. It's mainly a matter of programming the computer to run and update program on the polarity of the shields so they will be in line with the gravimetric stress we'll be flying through. The deflector idea would involve having to modify how the hull would be polarized, which is much more work. In short, I would rather have the shield change their magnetic directions all over the place than the hull. This shouldn't take more than two to three hours."

With that issue settled, The Vulcan Science Officer left to update the Captain.

* * *

The Chief Engineer had been true to her word and had completed the necessary programming within two hours. With all he necessary preparations complete, the crew of USS Ganymede prepared to really enter the unknown. This ship could not have been in better condition for a trip into the great black yonder. The same could not quite be said for the crew on the other hand.

The entire senior staff was on the bridge and the ship had been brought to condition one, in other words all hands on deck. The danger of this event was not lost on the crew, and the atmosphere on the bridge was thick with tension and anticipation. It helped to be a little pessimistic and the staff ran through scenarios in their heads of what could go wrong. Being the Captain, Omwus projected an air of total calm over the jitters he felt internally, but was too professional to show. This display of utter calm was enough to sooth many of anxieties most of the other crew members were feeling. If this didn't work, the ship would most likely be ripped apart and they would die either of asphyxiation, be ripped apart by gravity, or incinerated by the radiation and energy from the wormhole.

Those thoughts however were buried in some recess of the mind, of each officer and gave them a wonderful incentive to plan out for every catastrophe that could happen. A portion of the Captain's mind was pulled out of planning as the Chief Engineer announced all systems were ready from her station. A short silence punctuated by sounds of the computers took hold as he waited for one last update.

"All log entries have been uploaded to the comm. buoy with an appended status report." Commander Burton said. "Starfleet Command should be getting our status report in a few days."

Nodding his assent, Captain Omwus began issuing orders. "Helm, take us in, full impulse. Engineering, begin the program." Tapping a button on his chair, an open communications signal chimed throughout the ship. "Attention all hands, this the Captain. We are about to enter the wormhole, standby for turbulence." Tapping the same button to close the channel, he gave one last look around to gauge the mood of the bridge crew. Several faces were taught, but most were unreadable, definitely a good sign as it meant duty had taken over in their minds. They were a good crew to be with, and he was proud to be with them. Turning to face forward, he allowed a ghost of a smile to cross his lips as felt excitement begin to take hold.

"Execute." With a voice of highly restrained enthusiasm, the Captain's command set the crew into motion.

The Ganymede impulse engines glowed bright red as they pushed super heated gases out, accelerating the lithe starship forward at incredible speeds. The ship glided forward with grace, picking up speed as heated to the heart of the inferno. The tension of the crew continued to increase as the ship got closer to the worm hole. There would be occasional shakes as the ship shifted from one gravity wave to the next. It was practically incomprehensible as to how the laws of physics seemed to have been tossed into an airlock. The ship continued to push on as the computer began to rapidly change the polarity of the shields.

Several crew members began to hang on for dear life as the shaking became more violent the closer they got to the worm hole. There was a feeling of dread that the ship would be overstressed and torn apart anyway. A few even cursed the decision to investigate the anomaly, but kept it to themselves for fear of biting something in their mouth when they crossed another gravity wave. The crew felt the ship violently lurch to one side, causing many to be sent sprawling onto the deck or into panels and railings with bruising force. Captain Omwus decided this was enough and needed information. "I thought the shields were supposed to take care of this turbulence!" he yelled over the now blaring red alert alarm indicating the ship was in grave danger.

Lt. Commander Silin desperately tried to keep her eyes on the data flowing in front of her while holdings onto her bridge station with white knuckles. "They are, but the fluctuations are now happening too rapidly!" She yelled as the ship began rattle more violently. A massive sudden shock suddenly rocked the ship violently again, the sound of groaning metal adding to the cacophony sounds indicating ship in distress as the tug of war over the ship continued unabated. Several lights on her panel began flashing red indicating that the Structural Integrity Field and Inertial Dampening Field were going above red line trying to keep the ship together while counter acting all the sudden violent movements.

Another sudden jerk was a bit more than the IDF was able to handle sending several crew members off their feet. One unlucky crewman cried out as he went head first into a bulkhead with a sickening thud. He soon began bleeding profusely all over the bridge deck.

Several panels began spitting spark of energy around the bridge as the tortured power systems began to suffer feedback from the ordeal.

Lieutenant Anthi's more dire report immediately followed. "Micro fractures detected on the primary and secondary hulls! Structural Integrity is falling!" She yelled from her station at Tactical.

Captain Omwus' orders came out rapidly, "Transfer all auxiliary and emergency power to structural integrity and shields! Take if from life support if you have to." The situation was now very ugly to make that order.

"10 seconds to event horizon!" Lieutenant J.G Bol yelled out from his station at the ship's helm. His tight controlled voice counting down to the end of the ordeal. "Entering in 3…….2……...1……..now"

The ship seemed to disappear into the event horizon of the worm hole causing the gravitational effects to stop when they crossed. However, this blessing was soon lost when T'Lenn and all the telepaths and empaths let out an other worldly scream of anguish before collapsing.

* * *

_Author's Note: Thanks to all those who reviewed and enjoyed the story._


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